Growing environmental concerns caused due to the emission of toxic gasses into the atmosphere have prompted administrations across various nations to blend specialty fuel additives in transportation fuel. Additives primarily improve fuel efficiency for diesel, gasoline, distillate fuels and others; and modify effect burn and combustion rates, under high temperatures and to reduce harmful emissions. Additives can be broadly classified as oxygenates and specialty fuel additives on the basis of raw materials. Oxygenates include alcohols (methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, etc.) and ethers (methyl tert-butyl ether, ethyl tertiary butyl ether, etc.) which are developed by infusing oxygen in them to reduce carbon monoxide emissions. Key specialty fuel additive products include antioxidants, deposit control agents, antiknock agents, corrosion inhibitors and metal deactivators among some other additives. The global industry is constantly focused on innovation and product development to enhance fuel functionality and performance, reduce environmental hazards and increase mileage. Ever evolving technology coupled with the growing environmental concerns has been pushing the market for specialty fuel additives in the past and this trend is expected to continue over the next five years.

Regulatory initiatives in various regional markets, to lower the level of sulfur has led to increased demand for lubricity improvers and this trend is expected to continue as the world is shifting its focus towards developing cleaner transportation fuels. In addition, innovation and introduction of new engine technology are leading to growth in the differentiation of various fuel additives for specific functions. Moreover, increasing consumption of fuels in countries such as India and China are projected to boost the fuel additives demand. Furthermore, increasing consumption of biofuels is also expected to impact the global fuel additives market. However, Owing to the increasing demand for cleaner fuels and alternative fuels global demand of alternative fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) is significantly on the rise. Given that the alternative fuel demand is increasing the global market of fuel additives for oil based fuels is expected to be hampered in the near future.

Products Insights

Key product segments analyzed and reported in this study include antioxidants, deposit control additives, lubricity improvers, cold flow improvers, cetane improvers and corrosion inhibitors among some other products. Deposit control additives emerged as the leading product segment in the global market and accounted for 39% of total market volume in 2013. Increasing demand for detergents as fuel additives has acted as one of the major factors boosting the demand for deposit control additives. Cetane improvers emerged as the second largest product segment and accounted for 10.3% of total market volume in 2013. Growing diesel consumption mainly in Asian and European countries is expected to drive the market over the forecast period. However, cold flow improver is expected to be the fastest growing product segment at an estimated CAGR of 7.9% from 2014 to 2020. The shift in focus toward adoption of biofuel mainly in European and North American countries is expected to spur demand for cold flow improvers over the next six years. On the other hand, the global demand for antioxidants is expected to reach 125.4 kilo tons by 2020, growing at an estimated CAGR of 5.6% from 2014 to 2020.

Global specialty fuel additives market volume share by product, 2012

Application Insights

Key application markets analyzed and reported in this study include gasoline, diesel and ATF (aviation turbine fuel) among some other applications. Gasoline dominated the global application market for specialty fuel additives and accounted for 46.2% of total market volume in 2013. Growing gasoline consumption mainly in the U.S. is expected to remain a key driving factor for the market. However, demand for gasoline has been stagnant around other parts of the world on account of growing popularity of diesel which is expected to surpass gasoline to become the leading application market for specialty fuel additives by 2020. On the other hand, global specialty fuel additives demand in ATF is expected to reach 70 kilo tons by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 4.9% from 2014 to 2020. Other fuels including marine fuel and heating oil accounted for just 5.5% of total market volume in 2013.

Regional Insights

North America emerged as the leading consumer for specialty fuel additives and accounted for 27.8% of total market volume in 2013. Ban of MTBE in the U.S. has spurred the demand for specialty fuel additives in the U.S. which is expected to continue driving the regional market over the forecast period. Asia Pacific narrowly trailed North America, emerging as the second largest market for specialty fuel additives. Asia Pacific accounted for 27.5% of total market volume in 2013. Asia Pacific is also expected to be the fastest growing market at an estimated CAGR of 7% from 2014 to 2020 and is expected to surpass North America to become the largest market for specialty fuel additives by 2020. Growing consumption of diesel mainly in countries such as China and India is expected to drive the regional market over the forecast period. On the other hand, the European market for specialty fuel additives is expected to reach a market worth USD 2,090.3 million by 2020, at an estimated CAGR of 5.8% from 2014 to 2020. Stringent regulations coupled with growing demand for biofuel is expected to drive the market in the region.

Competitive Insights

The global market for specialty fuel additives is moderately concentrated with top four companies including NewMarket, Innospec, BASF and Infineum accounting for 48.5% of total market in 2013. Other companies operating in the global specialty fuel additives market include Lubrizol, Baker Hughes, Chevron Oronite, Albemarle, Chemtura, Clariant, Dow Chemical Company, Evonik Industries, Eurenco, Total Additives & Special Fuels, Dorf Ketal and NALCO Champion among others.

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